Number One
by Gundam Kaiser
Summary: An examination of Shinji Ikari, as raised in the MGLN universe by Fate Testarossa and associates.
1. Vivid Drama, pt 1

**Number One**

**Summary: A thought experiment, showing how Shinji Ikari might turn out if he were raised in the MGLN universe.**

**If this gets enough support, I'll take it from just this prologue and turn it into a full-fledged story of its own.**

* * *

_Prelude_

Most dimensions were slightly out of phase with each other, and many scientists had theorized that different dimensions could have parallel counterparts of the same objects - worlds, constellations, or even individuals.

But it wasn't until just six years ago - shortly after the Scaglietti incident - that this theory was confirmed when the TSAB detected a massive dimensional disturbance.

Upon reaching the source some months later, the investigation team found an otherdimensional parallel of Unadministered World 97, otherwise known as Earth.

The disturbance - which the natives of this second Earth would later refer to as 'Second Impact' - resulted in the permanent change of that world's climate and the eventual deaths of over two-thirds of its inhabitants, largely attributed to either the rising sea levels or the series of wars that broke out in Second Impact's wake.

The aftershocks of the event did not effect the dimension of origin, but caused natural disasters of much lesser severity in several other 'nearby' dimensions.

Based on the residual energy from the event, the team was able to discern that it had been caused by some sort of exceptionally powerful Lost Logia.

Over the next four years, there has been an ongoing covert investigation into the Lost Logia that caused Second Impact, with minimal results.

On a day in that fourth year, Enforcer Fate Testarossa-Harlaown found an abandoned child in the middle of an urban wasteland.

* * *

_Future_

Fate Testarossa-Harlaown was, by nature, a very considerate woman. So when the school called to report that the second boy she'd taken into her care had gotten into a fight, she resolved to wait until she'd heard his side of the story before passing any kind of judgment.

At home, Shinji was normally very withdrawn, needing to be pulled into family discussions or activities, and not really doing much to express himself. According to the schoolteachers, however, the boy had gone berserk and savagely attacked a classmate for no reason.

As the blonde enforcer drove him home for the end of the day, she asked, "So, care to tell me why you got into a fight?"

After several seconds, Shinji eventually replied, "He said bad things about you, bro, and sis. Things that weren't true."

Interesting. Although Fate greatly disapproved of Shinji's chosen method to handle the situation, it was nice to hear evidence that he _did_ care about his foster family, apparently.

"What kind of things did he say, Shinji?"

The boy was silent for a few seconds, as though wary of repeating what he'd heard, until Fate eventually coaxed it out of him.

"He said the three of you should die. No, that's not right. He said you all shouldn't be allowed to exist in the first place, because you weren't born like normal people... because you were made artificially."

Ah. There was a minority subset of the population that had active protests against the existence of artificial humans, like Fate, Erio, and Vivio. Apparently, one of Shinji's classmates was the child of such people.

Personally, Fate wasn't too bothered by it - they were entitled to their opinions, and so long as they didn't break the law in voicing them, it wasn't really a problem.

Still - both as a mother and as an Enforcer - Fate was obligated to nip this behavior in the bud, before it became a recurring problem.

"Shinji," she began, "I'm glad that you care so much about us, but you can't use violence as your first solution to every problem that comes along. If he says something like that again, just try to ignore him. Understood?"

The boy was silent for a moment, and just watched the scenery go by. Eventually, he nodded. "... yeah."

Fate wasn't quite sure he _really_ understood, but she let it go for the time being. "By the by, you said you wanted to try your hand at learning Strike Arts with Vivio?"

Shinji didn't face her as he said, "I'd rather not join Vivio's classes, if that's okay."

Fate frowned, asking, "Why not?"

The reply this time was immediate. "Vivio's a nice person. She'd try to help me become her equal. Rivals helping each other get stronger through competition, that kind of thing."

Not seeing the problem, Fate asked, "And what's wrong with that?"

"I've seen her spar a few times. Vivio is... amazing."

Fate certainly hadn't been expecting that kind of a reason - nor the reverent tone in which he'd said it - but she bade him continue.

"It's not just her skill, either. Her physical conditioning is at a level that I could _never_ reach in the time she has, and I'm not some kind of genius who could pick up the ability needed to make up for it, either. I'd only slow her and everyone else down. Vivio and her friends deserve better than to have me dragging them down."

Arf, who'd been napping in the back seat, snarked, "Wow, kid, the confidence is rolling off of you in _waves_."

Shinji turned in his seat and stared at her, blank expression never changing.

After a while, Arf shivered and broke eye contact. "_Geez_. Someone apparently can't take a joke."

Shinji turned back to where he was, absently gazing out the window. "I knew you were joking. I just didn't laugh."

"Yeah, you _never_ laugh. Or smile, or really emote much of anything. ... You're a real creepy kid, you know that?"

Attempting to bring the conversation back to its original topic, Fate summarised, "So what you're saying is that you don't think you can catch up to her?"

Shinji turned to face his guardian and bluntly asked, "Tell me honestly. Do you seriously believe I _could_?"

Fate, both as a mother-figure and as a friend, wanted to be supportive.

But as she thought about it, she found she couldn't really disagree with him. With a forlorn sigh, she said, "Shinji, you are one depressing boy, you know that?"

"I'm sorry."

And she knew he meant it.

"Still, I think an old friend of mine's got some openings in his schedule, and I might get him to agree to a one-on-one class with you."

Shinji tilted his head. "'Him' who?"

Fate smiled. "That's a surprise."

* * *

**This prologue starts just after Riot Force 6 dissolves, and concludes a few months before the events of Vivid.**


	2. Vivid Drama, pt 2

**Number One**

**Timeskip from the last chapter. That one was set sometime before the events of Vivid began, this one is for the vacation trip that starts in Vivid chapter 8.**

* * *

Fate, Nanoha, Vivio, and the latter's friends were celebrating high marks on the first-grade exams, and the girls' new status as honor students.

Just as the group were about to start preparing for the trip, the door opened and Shinji came in. Vivio cheerfully asked, "Hey little brother, how'd you do on your exams?"

Shinji stopped, and observed the assorted girls and women in the room, all of whom were looking at him with expectant optimism. Without any expression on his face, he flatly replied, "I need to do some more studying."

Then, a little warmth crept into his tone as he faced Vivio. "I heard about your good work, though. Congratulations, everyone."

With a nod to Lio and Corona but no further comment, he then went upstairs into his room. Just before closing it, however, he said, "By the way, Vivio. I saw Nove and your girlfriend a few minutes ago. They're headed this way."

Vivio spluttered at his claim that Einhart Stratos was her girlfriend, though she certainly had no real desire to refute it if she were honest with herself.

About that time, the announced duo arrived. Fate wanted to check up on Shinji, but the guests need to be attended to first. Nanoha nudged her with an elbow and whispered, "Don't worry Fate, I'll look in on him in a bit."

Fate sighed in relief, before nodding. Their home was quite lively today...

* * *

Some hours later, Shinji heard someone knocking on his bedroom door.

Not looking up from the massive assortment of worksheets on his desk, the boy tonelessly muttered, "Come in."

He'd been half-expecting Fate or Vivio to come in, but instead it was the redheaded Nanoha who spoke. "So, you seemed to be in a poor mood today."

Trying to work out a math problem, he replied, "Not really."

"It'd be easier to speak with you if you'd look at me, Shinji."

Wordlessly, Shinji spun around in his chair to face the redhead, giving her his full attention. The abruptness of it, however - combined with his usual blank expression - startled her a bit, causing the woman to hesitate for a second.

"... You really, _really_ aren't one for small talk, are you?"

Shinji didn't really see a reason to answer that, since it was kind of evident. "You wanted to know about my exam results, right?"

Nanoha kept her smile up, though she twitched at the boy's bluntness.

"Well, yeah, a bit, but there's more to it than that. Since you didn't join us, I wanted to know if you were doing all right."

Shinji just looked at her, without any particular expression. Eventually, he replied, "I got the lowest score in the class. There's nothing I can do to change it now, except study harder for the next one. Whether or not I'm 'all right' with it isn't important."

Nanoha frowned, just a little bit. "I... see. So because you aren't happy with your results, you just hide up here in your room studying, instead of hanging out and having fun with your family? You know what, let me see your results. As in, the actual papers. I know the school hands them out. C'mon, fork 'em over."

Wordlessly, Shinji turned back to his desk and dug through the inch-thick layer of worksheets, until he found the day's test results, before turning back and handing them to his guardian.

Nanoha's brow furrowed, confusion increasing with each successive paper. "... You _do_ realize that a seven out of ten average actually isn't that bad, right? And this is more advanced than _I_ was learning in elementary school, too."

Shinji bluntly replied, "Everyone else in the class got a perfect score. "

At that news, Nanoha suddenly had a clearer picture of his frustration.

"You know," she began, "we're all planning on a trip to visit our friend Lutecia on the world Carnegie, right?"

Shinji nodded, not having anything to say about it.

"It really should go without saying, but I will anyway. If you want, you're more than welcome to come with us."

"No thank you." With that, Shinji turned back to his desk and resumed studying, assuming that the conversation was over.

Twitching a bit, Nanoha asked, "And why not?"

" 'You're creepy.' "

Thrown for a loop, Nanoha asked, "Excuse me?"

" 'Shinji, you're a real creepy kid.' 'Good God, you're depressing.' 'Man, what an awkward kid you are.' 'Why can't you act like a _normal_ person?' 'Geez, how pathetic.' 'You mean to tell me you can't even answer a question as simple as this one?' "

Surprised at the boy's sudden talkative mood, Nanoha paused for a moment. "Is that what people tell you in school?"

Shinji didn't give her a straight answer. "Vivio and her friends did well in their tests, and I didn't. It only makes sense for them to go on the trip, and for me not to. They're honor students, and I'm the last in my class. I need to keep studying and not waste everyone's time."

After a moment, he continued, "Even if I were there, I'd only make everyone miserable. Everyone would have more fun without me. I don't want to ruin everyone's good time, so it's only reasonable for me to stay here and study."

Nanoha just stared at the back of his head, before she began to scowl. Eventually, she grabbed Shinji by his collar, and yanked him out of his chair.

"Wha-?! What, what are you doing?!"

A certain part of Nanoha was rather pleased that she had finally gotten an honest-to-god _reaction_ out of him. "I'm tired of hearing you mope about your inferiority complex, Shinji. You're going to enjoy yourself on this trip with your family and friends, even if I have to drag you by the ankle all the way there! And if you're _that_ hung up on studying, then you can do it by the pool!"

Shinji wanted to argue, but decided that actually doing so would be pointless.

_I don't think I'll ever understand this person,_ he decided. After all, it didn't make any sense to force his presence on everyone, when it was so obvious that they'd enjoy themselves more if he wasn't there to spoil everything.

Even if it would be sort of nice to see Erio and Caro again, what he wanted was less important than making sure everyone else had a good time.

* * *

The next day, Shinji found himself on a trip to the mostly uninhabited Carnegie, where the Takamachi/Testarossa extended family and friends would be taking a four-day vacation at the home of another friend, one Lutecia Alpine.

Upon arrival, Vivio and her friends were greeted by Lutecia, with introductions being taken care of as needed. Looking around, Shinji observed that he was the _only_ non-female in the group, at least until Erio showed up. Thinking about it, he realized that Erio was the _only_ other guy he knew who was supposed to be on the trip. It disappointed him a little, to know that Yuuno and Chrono weren't going to be around.

Chrono's absence was only reasonable, though, since it would be much more difficult for an Admiral to get time off of work than it would for mere employees. Yuuno probably hadn't even been told about the outing. For someone Nanoha and Fate claimed to be such good childhood friends with, they seemed to forget to include Yuuno in a lot of things, where more recent acquaintances with less (theoretically) strong bonds were given top priority.

Would Shinji, too, be included in the family with less and less frequency as time went on? Would he eventually become the kind of family member who everybody remembered and seemed to talk about fondly, but nobody ever cared to contact? Would there come a day when nobody thought about him at all, as if he didn't even exist?

Sometime in the middle of his musing, Erio and Caro made their presence known; apparently, they'd actually arrived some time earlier. Einhart nearly got into a fight with Lutecia's familiar, Garyu, but it was quickly defused when his nature was explained.

Shinji was mostly just observing how happy everyone was to see each other, and idly wondering if anyone had noticed - or, more accurately, cared about - his presence. It wasn't like he was invisible or standing away from the crowd, as he was standing just a few feet behind Vivio, who seemed to be the center of attention.

Soon enough, it was announced/decided that the kids would all change into swimwear and meet by the pool out back. With a sigh, Shinji instead went inside. He couldn't swim - indeed, he sank like a rock.

So instead, he began studying again, though he found it hard to concentrate. No matter where he looked, all Shinji could see was how everyone around him completely and totally outclassed him, in every possible way. Everyone he knew personally was a skilled martial artist, a high-ranking mage, or both.

Shinji had been dropped - and, to add insult to injury, _given a refund_ - by his Strike Arts instructor after just two lessons, with the remarks that he had absolutely zero aptitude for any kind of martial arts and wasn't worth teaching. As far as magic went... Shinji didn't even have a _linker core_. Forget being mediocre or even terrible at it, there was simply no possible way the boy would ever be capable of using magic except, _possibly_, under abnormal circumstances.

Eventually, Shinji looked out the window to find the other kids making huge columns of water using only the force of their muscles, with Nove supervising them. Einhart and Nove kicked up so much water it simulated a rainstorm.

Shinji wasn't jealous. Really, he wasn't. He was surrounded by amazing, compassionate and friendly people, not one of whom had ever given him a reason to treat them with anything less than admiration.

Eventually, someone yelled something about lunch, and everyone gathered outside. Shinji wasn't really hungry, but went out anyway.

Near the end of lunch, Agito found Shinji. Teasingly, she asked, "Too good to hang out with the rest of us mortals, huh?"

More honest than he'd ever been in his life, Shinji replied, "It's the other way around. Because I'm weak and valueless... I have no right to place myself among such wonderful, amazing people."

With a sad smile as he glanced at Fate across the field, he concluded, "You all are the gods here, after all."


End file.
